


i could do worse and you could do better

by ikuzonos



Category: Dangan Ronpa, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ambiguous Relationships, F/F, NDRV3 Spoilers, Post-Canon, Sad gays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 00:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11771541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikuzonos/pseuds/ikuzonos
Summary: [Major Endgame NDRV3 Spoilers]All they have anymore is each other.





	i could do worse and you could do better

**Author's Note:**

> this was written for the prompt 'having trouble falling asleep' but i went a little off topic. I'm sad.

One of the pans fell off of the kitchen counter. Maki raised her head from the armrest of the sofa, squinting to see in the darkness. 

According to the little green lights on the oven, it was just past two in the morning. Maki idly twisted a strand of hair around her finger. She hadn’t realized how late, or perhaps, early, it had gotten. She was sure that she’d only been staring at the stained ceiling panels in the living room for twenty minutes, but four hours had passed.

There was probably some pithy, worthwhile quote about making use of time in the short frame of life that we are given that a more nuanced person would make about that situation, but Maki’s thought process boiled down to ‘ _thanks, dissociation.’_

Standing in the shadows of the kitchen, staring down at the fallen pan as if it were a bomb, was Tsumugi Shirogane. She was holding her hands up near her head, and if it wasn’t just a trick of the light, or Maki’s tired eyes, she was shaking too.

“Shirogane?” Maki called out weakly, “Is something the matter?”

The blue haired girl jumped “O-Oh! I’m fine, really! I just… I simply… I dropped the pan.”

Maki tilted her head, “Why were you holding it in the first place?”

Shirogane nervously fiddled with the sleeves of her nightgown, gaze downcast.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Maki added.

Shirogane said softly, “I can’t sleep. I want to sleep, I’m absolutely exhausted, but my brain won’t turn off. Whenever I close my eyes, I… I see…”

Maki replied, “I still have nightmares too. Can you believe that Team _Dangan Ronpa_ told us that they’d go away with enough medication?”

Shirogane laughed sharply, then crossed into the living room, sitting down on the same couch as Maki. 

“They’re liars,” Shirogane mumbled.

Maki smiled bitterly, then closed her eyes. Last year, when the court cases surrounding the fifty-third season had finally dropped, all of them - sans Kiibo, who was forced to remain at Team _Dangan Ronpa_ headquarters - were forced to draw lots that would decide who among the cast they would live with.

Because apparently, trusting them to all go out on their own wasn’t possible. Though, considering that nearly all of them were suicidal most of the time, maybe it hadn’t been such a bad idea after all.

Whether you died in the virtual reality simulation that held the final season or were one of the three ‘survivors’ didn’t matter. Everyone had some degree of trauma that refused to let go.

Maki hadn’t wanted to draw for her housemates, terrified that she would end up living with Momota. Whatever brainwashing she’d been through had faded, as had any remnants of romantic attraction towards him. It made her skin crawl, to think that she would love someone who said the things he did with no regard for himself.

It made good television, sure, but it made Maki feel ill.

Luckily for her, Momota had ended up with Saihara (“Brothers for life!” he’d declared, swinging an arm around the shorter boy) and Akamatsu (who didn’t seem pleased in the slightest about her grouping).

Instead, Maki got Shirogane and Yumeno. The latter hadn’t been a problem, and in fact, Maki was pleased to discover the short girl would be with her, as they had gotten along well enough. It was living with the ringleader that troubled her to say the least.

Shirogane seemed to have been just as nervous about living with _anyone,_ so perhaps her worries were unfounded. The blue haired girl had certainly only demonstrated the docile personality she wore during most of the simulation, ever since they woke up.

“I can’t sleep either,” Maki said suddenly, realizing that she’d been quiet for too long.

Shirogane let out a soft sight, “At least Yumeno-san sleeps well.”

Sure enough, the third girl was curled up on one of the arm chairs, snoring away. Maki let herself smile at the sight of her. The three of them had bonded surprisingly well over the last year, much to the surprise of the three.

Maybe they were more than friends. Maki wouldn’t know, she didn’t have anyone else to compare the relationship to.

Shirogane said, “Thank you for believing in me. I… I know it must have been difficult, knowing what I did, but-“

“You’re not a bad person,” Maki said, “We all did things wrong in the simulation, but now is our chance to make up for it. And I’ll believe in you, no matter what happens.”

Shirogane brushed a tear from her eyes, “T-Thank you.”

From the arm chair, Himiko stirred. She groaned, “W-What… What are… What are you two talking… talking about?”

Shirogane got to her feet and scurried over to Himiko, kneeling down beside her and holding her hand, “We can’t sleep, is all. Are you okay? Did you have a bad dream?”

Himiko shook her head, “Just… tired.”

Maki cracked a slightly wider smile at the sight of them. A year ago, a situation like this wasn’t possible. Though, truthfully, she hoped that in the future, all of them could be asleep at two in the morning.

Though, that might be a little too much to ask of their makeshift friendship/partnership/family.

Tears glistened in her eyes. Momota had been nothing more than an illusion, than something slimy forced down the throats of millions.

But this? What Maki felt towards the girls she shared an apartment with? This felt real.


End file.
